For systems for supporting the processing in electronic mailing, a system has been known which supports the execution of a series of processing operations such as sending mail along a circulation path, for example. Associated with the above-mentioned known electronic mail system are an electronic mail system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-268226 (1993) and a mail system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-68053 (1993).
The mail system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-68053 adds voice and image data, operator guidance, a format for reply entry and the like to electronic mail information to allow a recipient to follow the operator guidance and format entry operational procedure intended by a sender. With the electronic mail system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-268226, its host computer is provided with mail boxes which allow senders to sequentially transfer circulation destination list information and main between the mail boxes by following a circulation order included in the circulation destination list information added to the mail, thereby enabling electronic mail circulation processing between the users.
However, the electronic mail system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-268226 directs attention only to the method of electronic mail circulation and the method of circulation state confirmation, without considering the method in which an electronic mail recipient performs the processing in electronic mailing. That is, the above-mentioned conventional technique does not consider the ease of operation for the recipients of electronic mails.
The mail system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-68053 allows an electronic mail recipient to make operations by following the preset operator guidance and reply entry format, but the method in which a sender creates an operator guidance and reply entry format is not considered. That is, this conventional technique does not consider the ease of operation for the senders of electronic mails.